Snooping around
by ErikaMariia
Summary: Sam is alone in Jack's house. Minor spoilers. Set in any season, not in canon. I own nothing and make no money out of this. Thank you all for your kind reviews on my very first story after school. Here's another one. Please bear in mind that English is not my first language. I appreciate all comments.
1. Chapter 1

Snooping around

'Gone fishing! NO calls!' Sam looked at the note on the Colonel's door and grinned. Of course he had gone fishing and she knew it. He had actually asked her to come along but as usual, she had said no. He had then asked her to water his plants.

'Does he even have plants' she wondered opening the door. She stepped inside and stopped. It felt a bit weird to be alone in his house. She glanced to the left where his living room was ans saw a very big plant. She might be a genius and be able to build a particle accelerator but she had no idea what was the plant's name.

She made her way to the kitchen and saw a watering can on the table. ' How thoughtful of him. Or he didn't want me to search his cabinets.' Beside the can was a note: 'There's some leftovers and beer in the fridge. Make yourself at home and stay as long as you like. Jack'

She filled the can and carefully watered the big plant and a couple smaller ones in the living room.

Realizing she was hungry she opened the fridge and found some chinese. She took it and a fork and wandered back to the living room. Above the fireplace there were a couple of photos. In one of them was a little boy with a huge smile on his face and a big fish. Almost as big as the boy. Behind him was an elderly man. 'must be Colonel and his grandfather' she thought smiling. In the next photo was a small log gottage and a little pond behind it. ' It sure looks beautiful and quiet. No wonder he likes it there.'

Above the pictures were his Air Force medals. She hadn't known he had some many of them. 'Should pay more attention to my CO's dress uniform next time' ' No, wait. That was weird thought. she shaked her head and took another bite of the food. She continued walking around and smiled noticing a carefully oranized pile of videotapes. The Simpsons. Of course.

On the wall she saw a family portrait. She flinched when she realized they were his ex-wife and deceased son. He never talked about them. They had been working together for months before she even found out he had had a family. And even then it was Daniel who told her about them. She felt sorry for his loss and a sudden wave of guilt flew her mind. It wasn't right to snoop around like that.

She decided to leave but then she realized that there might be more plants in the house. She walked down the corridor towards his bedroom and study. No plants in there or the guestroom.

She was about open the door and enter the room but stopped. 'I've never been there, in his bedroom' she thought. She hesitated a bit more but decided to take a quick by the door to make sure there were no dying plants there. She opened the door and took a good look around. No plants. She noticed a few photos on the shelf and couldn't help herself. She stepped in to see them closer. In one picture was their team. She on the left, Daniel and colonel on the right, Teal'c behind them. They were standing on the ramp in the gateroom, the gate behind them gloving. Siler had wanted a picture of every SG-team but she didn't know he had a copy. It was probably a security breach although the gate wasn't recognizable.

She looked at the next picture and gasped. It was from her promotion. She was smiling like an idiot and saluting her CO after he'd given her her Oak leaves. She had been staring to his chocolate brown eyes so intensively she hadn't noticed someone taking pictures.

'Why does he have this in his bedroom shelf' she wondered sitting on the bed 'his colonel's bed' with the picture. She stared at it for a quite while. It was obvious he was more sentimental she had thought.

She stood up and put the photo back on the shelf. She noticed a small rock next to it. It looked vaguely familiar ans she took it in her hand. Right then she recognized their initials. It was from P3X-234 where they had gated from Thor's ship. They had been bored and it had taken hours to carve the initials. They had had lot of fun doing it and it had given them something to do.

She put the rock back and turned to leave but noticed a coat rack on the opposite wall. There was a white cotton jacket a bit dirty on the elbows. She recognized it, she had worn a similar one. A bittersweet memory filled her head. They had been captured by Hathor and led to believe they had been in a stasis for nearly 80 years. He had come to her and woken her up. She had been naked under the silver colour blanket and he had eyed on her. 'Yes, colonel, I DID notice that' she thought a little amused but also slightly embarrased. He had also clung to her after Hathor had tried to make him a host. Despite of all the horror in the situation it had felt so good. And later in the corridor when they were hiding from a jaffa patrol he had held her a bit tighter and a bit longer that was necessary. She stroked the soft fabric with her fingers buried deep in her memories.

Beside the white jacket there was a rust coloured, dirty stitched jacket. It was dirty and baggy. Another sweet but painful memory flooded her head. On an alien planet they had been Jonah and Thera, two workers whose job was hard. But they had had each other. They had had their memories stamped and hadn't known their true identies. 'We didn't know any regulations.'

Suddenly she felt quilty. She shouldn't have done that. She hurried out the bedroom and after a quick look that everything was okay, out the front door. She carefully locked it and climbed to her car. She sat in his drive way for a moment. She was very confused. Who would have thought Colonel O'Neill kept souvenirs. And every memory they represented included her. Granted, there might be more in the drawers but those he kept out in the open. It was like he wanted to remember just those. Just like she did. There were very few moments that she treasured in her mind. Those that kept her hoping and waiting.

She started the car and drove away. A sudden impulse made her grab her phone and place a call.

A/N: I AM planning to write more for this story but right now I have no idea what to write.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for your reviews on the first chapter. I never thought there would be a writer in me...

Hope you like this one too.

Part 2

" Daniel, could you take care of the colonel's plants for me?" Sam asked."I need to leave town".She knew the colonel wouldn't mind, he'd done it before.

"Sure, Sam. Is everything okay?" Daniel's voice was concerned.

"Umm. Yeah. I just.. need to leave" she answered vaguely. "I'll drop the keys in half an hour" she said. She hung up and called the base. Teal'c had an amazing memory. He had been to the cabin only once but was still able to give very detailed instructions.

After dropping the keys to a very amused archaeologist, filling her car and grabbing some snack she headed to Minnesota. There was a long drive ahead and she thought she'd be there around noon next day.

She had a lot of time to think. She was good at that. She had so many memories of her years in Stargate program and SG-1. They were painful, sweet, horrible, happy, good, bad, everything imaginable.

She had some great accomplishments in the Stargate program. The Naquadah generator was one of the biggest. The technology had been given to them from Orbanians but she had practically built the machine herself, with the help from terrific scientists of SGC. She had received well earned compliments of her work. Even the Colonel had been impressed despite his loss of interest anything considered scientific.

Another example was the particle accelerator. It had taken months and countless sleepless nights to build it. Thinking of that led her immediately to think of the reason it was built. The colonel had been stranded on an alien planet when their Stargate had been buried. Naquadah had melted on it forming an impenetrable iris. Suddenly she almost jumped out of her seat eyes widening. She pulled over hastily and sat there dor a moment staring out of the windshield. She vaguely noticed it was dawning.

She remembered seeing something almost hidden on the dresser next to the coat rack. A corner of a photo. She hadn't paid attention to it then but now she recognized the woman in it. Laira. The local woman he'd gotten involved during his three month "visit" on Edora.

'Why, why does he keep a picture of her? Does he love her?' her thoughts were spinning around. Had she gotten everything so wrong. A variety of feelings ran through her mind; anger, sorrow, frustration, jealousy. 'Get a hold of yourself Carter!' she told herself sharply. Since she joined SG-1 she had been calling herself Carter. She'd been called that most of her life but before she tried to think of herself as Sam, at least out of duty. Just to remind herself she was still a woman under those baggy BDUs. But there was something incredibly intimate and comforting in the way the Colonel said her last name. And sexy.'Whoa there, wrong way Carter!' she shaked her head and contemplating turning back.

She didn't. A Carter is not a quitter. Instead she drove ahead. It was only a couple of hours. She was too tired to drive back and she didn't want to stay at any shady motel.

Her thoughts wandered again. She couldn't help but smile remembering the robots Harlan had made of them. The second time they had met them the colonels had started a fight. She almost regretted that she had stopped them. Two colonels.. 'If only.'

She neared a little town realizing she was getting close. She stopped to a gas station for a quick bathroom break and gas. She showed her instructions to a friendly elderly man behind the counter asking if they were correct.

'O'Neill's cabin? Yes, just follow those and you can't go wrong, miss'. She tanked and turned to leave. 'Good to see you here miss. It's about time he has some female company.' She spun around and faced two grey eyes full of warmth and joy. 'They must be old friends with the colonel' she thought. She was too tired to correct the old man so she nodded with a little smile and waved goodbye.

She found the cabin and pulled over to the driveway behind his truck. She got out and without thinking twice walked to the front door and knocked. Then she panicked. She hadn't thought this through. What was her reason to be here?What would she say?

The door opened and when she gazed into those dark chocolate eyes she knew she didn't have to say anything.

A/N: Well, there might be another chapter. I have two storylines but haven't decided which way to go. And I'm not sure if the title is suitable anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all reviews. Now, I have no idea what Jack's cabin looks like so I used my imagination :) Hope you like this chapter too.**

Part 3

Sam woke up in a comfortable, small bed. For a moment she didn't know where she was. A ray of sunshine peeked between navy blue curtains. Log walls, a cabinet on the left and a dresser on the opposite wall. A small nightstand with a lamp on it on the left.

She had been exhausted and Jack had literally pushed her to the guest room and told her to get some sleep.

She glanced around and saw a note leaning to an old fashioned alarm clock. 'Gone shopping. BBQ tonight? Back around 5. Took your car since you blocked mine. Jack

Ps. So happy you're finally here.' Her heart missed a beat. 'He was happy?'

She stretched a bit and pulled the warm and soft blanket aside. She hadn't changed so she had decided to sleep on the covers. She looked at the clock and saw it was nearly four o'clock. She had slept for over four hours and felt fine. She stood up and took a closer look around the room. On the dresser were a few candles and a lava lamp. She chuckled. Next to it was a thin piece of cloth. She took it and gasped. It was the veil they had made her wear on Simarka. An undeveloped planet where they had treated women like a piece of property. She had been so mad and embarrassed wearing that, although beautiful dress. Despite being annoyed she remembered having a warm feeling running through her when she had heard him call her Samantha. It had been the very first time for a long time she hadn't minded being called that. 'Way to go Carter! You've been awake for five minutes and you're already snooping.' she thought putting the veil back. She really hoped ahe had made a difference.

She stepped out of the room. On the right, at the end a small corridor was the master bedroom, door wide open. Without thinking she stepped in. Navy blue curtains here too, a bed, big enough for two with a light blue cover, bookshelf and a wardrobe. In the bookshelf were a few books about fishing and to her surprise, few about astronomy too. On an otherwise empty shelf was a photo lying. A wedding photo she realized. Eager to see how her colonel had looked on his wedding day she took it. Now she was utterly shocked. In the picture was her and the colonel. No, not her, but Dr. Samantha Carter from an alternate reality. She and Kawalsky had come through a quantum mirror when their reality had been invaded by goa'uld. She couldn't go but SG-1 had gone to help them to contact the Asgard. Before returning the colonel and Dr. Carter had shared a tender kiss. It had been uncomfortable to watch it. How many times she had imagined the colonel kissing her like that..

She put the photo back and decided she wanted a shower. Too bad she couldn't change because her bag was still in her car. She found the small bathroom and a closet full of towels. She took a nice hot shower and got dressed again. She wandered to the kitchen and after searching through a few cabinets found the necessities to make some coffee.

She poured herself and cup and sat on barstool at the counter. The view was beautiful. ' I could really enjoy being here.' she thought. Suddenly she was very nervous. She had to explain why she was here. She almost bet that the colonel already knew but they had to talk about it. It was time to take it out of the room. She heard a car pulling to the driveway. The colonel was back.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jack was driving back to the cabin. He was smiling. A few hours back he had found no other than Major Samantha Carter at his doorstep. She had been exhausted and he had pushed her straight to bed. They hadn't spoken a word but eventually they had to. It was apparent that she had taken his hint. Why else would she be here. He wanted her to know that he was ready to take it out of the room. He was willing to retire or wait, whatever she wanted. And he wanted know if there was anything to wait for anymore. He was happy she was there. She'd been a little depressed lately. Nothing that affected her work but he knew her so well he could tell. He knew her date with that Pat-whatever hadn't gone well. He wanted her to be happy. No, he wanted her to be happy with him.

When he heard about her date he had realized that he had to do something. But how was he suppposed to bring this up with his subordinate? There had been feelings years ago but did they still exist? From his part was clear but what about her? He was hopeful because she was here.

He pulled to the driveway and grabbed shopping bags and Carter's backpack. She surely travelled light. Or she didn't plan to stay. He was sorry he had forgotten to bring the packback insinde. If Carter was awake she probably would have wanted to change. He stepped inside and found Carter in the kitchen.

"Good morning" 'honey' he added in his mind. "I see you found the shower" her hair was damp.

"Yes, sir. I thought you wouldn't mind."

"Sam. May I call you Sam?" he was suddenly unsure if it was approriate. He suddenly remembered the speech she had given him during their very first meeting about how to address her.

"Of course, sir".

"Yes. Well, loose the 'sir'. My name is Jack. And please don't make me to make it an order." he grinned.

"Yes. Jack". It felt weird to call him Jack. But she could get used to it. 'Don't get too comfortable with it' she reminded herself. She felt relaxed again. She looked at him and a silent understanding passed by between them. They needed to talk but not now.

**A/N A couple of more chapters coming along. Just bear with me a little longer :)**

**EDIT: corrected a few typos. Hopefully all. Sorry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again for reading and reviewing. I wanted to add the whole team into the story so here they are. Plus two other major characters.**

Meanwhile at SGC

Daniel and Teal'c were sitting in the commissary having a cup of coffee. SG-1 was on downtime but since General Hammond hadn't ordered them out of base Daniel had felt it was safe to come back. He had some interesting artefacts to study. Dr. Janet Fraiser entered the commissary and joined them.

"Um, Janet. Are you busy tomorrow?" Daniel asked a bit hesitantly.

"Nothing particular. Why?" the doctor was curious.

"I have to water Jack's plants. Would you like to join me? Maybe a cup of coffee afterwards?" Daniel was almost ashamed. He really liked the petite doctor and would love to see her outside the infirmary. He had seen the military part of SG-1 dance around their true feelings for years. The recent date Sam had had promted him to do something about his own feelings towards a certain doctor.

"Sure. That'd be nice." Janet smiled. She was very fond of the archaeologist and as much she liked to have him around she felt sorry he had to spend so much time in the infirmary. "I better get back to work".

They stood up to leave when they saw General Hammond approach.

"At ease, doctor. Now, Dr Jackson, I hope you do remeber you're on downtime? I know the Colonel is at his cabin fishing but what about Major Carter? I hope she's not here. "

"Um. No, she's left town. I promised to take care of Jack's plants for her." Daniel answered.

"Good. Hopefully she gets some much needed relaxation" Hammond nodded.

"Oh, I'm sure she will" Daniel couldn't hide a smile. Janet raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

"You know where she went?" Hammond was curious.

"Ah, not exactly. But I have a pretty good idea." Daniel answered a bit worried. Maybe he had said too much. He didn't want his closest friends to get into trouble. Teal'c of course knew for sure but he had promised not to tell anyone. And Hammond hadn't given an order to tell.

"Very well, son. Not my business anyway."

Hammond nodded and turned to leave hiding his smile.

He also had a pretty good idea of Carter's whereabouts. He might a bit old but he surely wasn't blind. We walked down the corridor towards his offce. He was happy for those two but also a little worried. The regs were there for a reason. If he saw something inapproriate he had no choice but to report. He hoped his trusted officers would come to a conclusion and trusted them to handle it appropriately. He didn't want to loose two of his best officers but those two really deserved some happiness.

**A/N One more chapter to go. **


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

"You're a good cook, Jack." Sam said between mouthfuls. She was hungry, she had eaten only snacks and a sandwich since yesterday afternoon. They had prepared a nice dinner together and she was relaxed. ' I could like it in here. Maybe I shouldn't say anything and I could come here as a team mate and friend.'she thought taking another bite.

"Thank you, Sam. Any room for a dessert? I brought cake." Jack said smiling. He had sensed a change in her mood and was happy to see her enjoying herself.

"Sure" she replied.

"So, what did you say to old Gary?" he asked bringing the cake.

"Gary?"

"At the gas station. The man was grinning to me like a clown and gave me a bottle of wine. 'for a special occasion' he said. "

"Uh, nothing really. He did say something about it being about a time you got female company here. I was too tired to correct him. " she said a little ashamed.

Jack grinned. "Well, you want a glass?"

"Shouldn't you save it for that special occasion then?" she found herself disappointed when Jack agreed.

"You know, tomorrow we're going fishing. I even have some astronomy books for you to read."

"I noticed." she replied without thinking. 'Oh crap! Now he knows I've been snooping. Double crap!' she blushed heavily. Jack's eyebrows rose but he didn't say anything. He watched her reddening face and smiled to himself. He had been right.

"Uh.. oh.. I..." she started. Jack decided now was the time. He let her out of the hook.

"Found anything else interesting?"

Sam was flabbergasted. She coughed trying to think what to say. 'What the heck. Here goes nothing.' she thought.

"Actually yes. You know, I didn't know if you had plants anywhere else than your living room. " she started. ' Oh no. I can't. '

"So you took my hint. Sweet!" Jack interrupted seeing she was too uncomfortable to continue.

"Hint? You did that on purpose?" suddenly she was angry.

Jack rose his hands surrendering. "Yes. Look, those things remind me of some pretty tough situations we were in. But we were together and we got out. Mostly because of you. I cherish those moments. They remind me of you bravery and how lucky I am to have you in my team. And in my life. I'm willing to retire or wait but I need to know if there's anything to wait for. I'm sorry your date went bad but it made me realise I had to do something. " Jack paused. That must've been the longest speech in his life. He held her gaze and she felt her anger fade away, making room for joy and happiness. She wanted to cry.

"There is." she said softly. " The main reason my date went bad was because he wasn't you. No, retiring is not an option, I'm willing to wait. " She continued. She wasn't willing to quit either and knew Jack wouldn't let her do it. For a moment they just stared each other.

"Come here" he said pulling her to tight hug, stroking her hair. "Why don't we go outside on the pier and open that bottle of wine? If_ this _isn't a special occasion I don't know what is." he mumbled in her hair.

She agreed. She almost danced to the pier. There were two garden seats on the pier and they sat down with their wine. It was a beautiful sunset and they watched it in silence for a long moment.

"I have one question" she said eventually. "What about the photo of that woman, Laira?" she asked awkwardly.

He knew she wanted to know and she deserved an honest answer. He took a sip pondering.

"It's more like a half a photo. I tore it apart but couldn't throw it away. She was there to help me cope when I needed it. And it reminds me of you. How _you _brought me home. "

" I can live with that" she replied taking a sip of her wine too. Jack turned to her and put his hand on top of hers.

"You know, I'm _really _happy you're here." he whispered softly.

He stroked her hand with his thumb and them lifted it caress her cheek. Then he leaned a bit closer and brushed his lips to hers. So quickly and so softly she almost missed it. She wanted more and she knew he wanted too but that was all they could have for now.

"We'll wait for a better day" she whispered. They both knew it was going to be worth the wait.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**Three weeks later**

General Hammond stood in the control room waiting for the gate to dial. SG-1 was in the gate room waiting for departure. They were chatting, smiling to each other, looking forward to their next mission. He paid extra attention to the military part of his flagship team. Ever since their return from colonel O'Neill's cabin the two seemed very cheerful. He hadn't asked about their decision but he hadn't noticed anything inapproriate. He trusted them.

"Godspeed SG-1" he said to the microphone sending them through the gate.

THE END

**A/N Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think. And a special thanks to LadyMo for her remark about Laira.**

**It really wasn't easy to find things Jack could keep from their missions. Surely there would have been plenty of rocks but I didn't see Jack as rock collector. **


End file.
